Compressed gas container



June 3, 1947. H. MERK'ER Erm.

COMPRESSED GAS CONTAINER l Filed March 20, 1944 Patented June 3, 1947 j Herman Mex-ker and John kee, Wi

L. Graham, Milwaus., assignors to Pressed Steel Tank CompanyfnMilwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wis- Application March 2o, 1944, serial No. 527,156 (crean-3) 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in containers for handling and particularly for shipping compressed gases.

Vessels for shipping compressed gases must.

bear certain information required by vinterstate commerce regulations which also require that the information be permanently stamped on a plate attached on all' edges to the cylinders or-on a part of the vessel itself. Regulations forbid stamping the markings in the container walls because Wall strength is decreased by the impressions made by the stampings.

If a ring is placed about the neck of athinwalled container to act as a reinforcement of the neck or is used in combination with a spud secured to the container for receiving the discharge valve thereof, the outer peripheral surface of the ring must be threaded for attachment of a -cap protecting the valve during handling of the container. Such ring accordingly does not provide any surface in whichthe required markings may be impressed. When a spud is mounted` on the container and a neck ring is attached to the spud, the neck ring can be fastened only at one of its edges. Moisture is accordingly trapped under the ring which leads to corrosion of both the container and the ring. The ring covers the weld between the cylindrical portion of the container and the spud4 and must be removed to detect and repair leaks in the weld. And regulations will not permit placing the required markings on the neck rings because thev rings can be attached at only one edge.

Even if the vessel walls are suiiciently heavy to have the markings impressed thereon without affecting the Wall strength, the impressions are frequently obliterated by damage or the markings become illegible by lling of the impressions with paint used to coat the vessels. Unless the markingsA are clearly legible at all time's,the vessel cannot be re-used for handling compressed gases and must' be scrapped or converted to other uses. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a container for handling com-` pressedv gases in which special means are provided for carrying the permanently impressed markings required by interstate commerce regulations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a compressed gas-shipping vessel with special meanson which the required markings are so impressed that removal thereof destroys the utility of the vessel for its intended purpose.

Another object oi the invention is to provide a compressed gas-shipping container in which a `combined closure and identdcation iitting or boss closes the opening in the container. receives the discharge `valve, and provides a space on which the permanent markings may be impressed without danger on obliteration thereof during use.

' Objectsy and advantages other than those above set forth will be apparent from the following description when read in connection'. with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross sectional view of a container for handling compressed gases and somewhat diagrammatically shows the combined closure, tting and boss `of the present invention:

Fig. 2 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of the closure, fitting, and boss;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the closure, iitting, and boss; o

Fig. 4 i's a cross section taken on the plane of line IV-IV of Fig. 3; and

' Fig. 5 is a cross section onl the plane of line `V- V ofFig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawing by byy a combination closure, valve ntting and identiilcation boss, generally designated", which is either a castingl or a forging formed .substantially as a frustum of a hollow cone witha peripheral ilange conical surface `between the ange I2 and the disc I3 is` designated by the numeral I8. The

upper portion of the combination closure and boss II is formed with a 'cylindrical portion II threaded on the periphery thereof to receive; a cap I8. The disc portion I 3' oi' the'closure and boss has an aperture 2li which` is threaded to j receive a discharge valve indicated at 22 and may or may not be provided with a second aperture 23 for the reception ofa fusible plug or other safety device. The cylindrical portion of the closure and boss forms a flange extending above the surface of the disc portion I2 and the ange is provided with a plurality ofnotches 21 having the bottoms thereof cut, as indicated at 28, down to or belowthe upper surface of the disc portion I3 to provide for drainage therefrom. It t will be noted that the closure and boss forms a part of the tank wall and that the inner surface thereof defines a substantially bowl shaped vcavity devoid of flanges or other projections which might interfere with drainage of the vessel after the hydrostatic testing thereof.

I2 about Vthe base of the cone and with the t upper end of the f'rustum closed by a disc'll. The

4bined closure, fitting and The structure above described provides for placing the required markings on a permanent portion of the container itself, which avoids the use of a separate name or marking plate and avoidsthe disadvantages of a special neck ring used either with or without a spud. There is no danger of damage to the vessel by brazing or welding on of a plate or a neck ring and the combination closure, fitting and boss can be made as heavy as desired to avoid `all possibility of damage during marking. The above structure is accordingly not subject to possible damage which may occur even with the manner of marking now permitted by the regulations. v

It will be seen from the above that the comboss disclosed in the present application provides a surface I6 which is recessed or reentrant so that the surface is beneath the curvilinear plane tangent to the upper peripheral edge of the'fiange 26 and the shoulder of the cylinder portions 6, 1. The rel quired markings may accordingly be placed on such surface without danger that the markings can be obliterated by accidental damage during use. The marked surface of the closure and boss is at an angle with the vertical center line of the container so as to be normal to lthe sight line of Athe average person looking for the markings,

which makes the markings more readily visible and more easily legible. The marked surface of the closure and boss may, of course, be treated either before or after marking by plating or spraying with a 'corrosion resistant metal, thereby makingpainting unnecessary.

Particular advantages result from placing the markings on the closure and boss due to the fact that the impressing or stamping of the markings may be done after testing the completed container without danger of damage to the container walls. Containers are purchased in lots which must be correctly serially numberedand with each numbered container identified with the lot of steel from which it is made. Good manufacturing practice requires that the containers be loaded in cars for shipping as soon as tested. Heretofore the vessels had to be marked before testing, with all the required data including the serial number, and the test failure of a single vessel destroyed th'e sequence of serial numbering. It was then necessary to examine all the previously tested and loaded vessels to insure correct serial numbering before shipment.' But marking after testing without incurring danger of damage to the containers allows records to be kept identifying a particular portion of the serially numbered containers with a particular lot of steel even though one or more containers fail on test after all of that particular lot of steel has been used in manufacture. Replacement of an already numbered container, which has failed on test by another container made from a dierent lot of steel. is accordingly avoided and the chances of errors in keeping records identifying each' parfor their entire depth. Ii the materials of the closure and boss and the other walls of the vessel have the same tensile strength, the closure wall I8 must be made heavier than the wall of vessel portions 8 and 1, by the amount necessary to compensate for weakening of the wall caused by the indentations, thus enabling all parts of the finished vessel to withstand the same pressure. However, if the Walls of vessel porti'ons 8 and l and the closure and boss wall portion I8 are made of material having different tensile strengths, the wall I6 need be made only sufficiently thick so that the tensile strength remaining Aafter marking is vjust equal to the strength of the vessel wall portions and l. Any attempt to remove markings, followed by re-marking of the container, will decrease the closure and boss wall strength below that of the walls of portions 6' and 1 and the vessel will no longer be able to withstand the required pressure. Such changing of the markings, therefore, destroys the utility of the container for the pressure for which it was designed and prevents theft or the use of the re-marked container. The above balancing of the tensile strengths of the closure and boss wall and the container walls produces a structure requiring the minimum of metal for a given pressure and hence reduces the cost of manufacture and the labor required in handling the containers.

Although but one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it wiu be apparent to those slnueaxin the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the flange.

ticular container are greatlyv reduced. Finished invention or from the scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

A container for gases under pressure comprising a cylinder having an opening in one end thereof and a combined closure fitting and identifcation boss mo'unted on the cylinder about the opening therein, the tting and boss being formed as a frustum of a hollow cone with an apertured transverse wall across the apex thereof, the wall of the hollow conebeing of substantially uniform thickness, and a peripheral flange at the base of the cone attached to the cylinder about the opening therethrough, the inner surface of the closure fitting and boss defining a substantially bowlshaped cavity surrounding said opening for facilitating drainage of all liquids from the container, said transverse wall having an upstanding cylindrical ange provided with drainage ducts extending therethrough for draining the space above said transverse wall surrounded by said HERMAN MERKER. JOHN L. GRAHAM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record 'in the file of this patent:

./UNITED-STATES PATENTS Name Date Merker Apr. 13, 1937 Stenmetz Apr, 18, 1922 Badger Apr. 8, 1930 Underhill Mar. 1l, 1941 Rosenfeld Dec. 4, 1917 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Nov. 1, 1938 France Mar. 20, 1920 Number Number 

